Multinational Joint Task Force Research Articles

Itinerary of a Christian Ex-Boko Haram bomb maker in Cameroon

Abstract This paper is a biography of Paul, a Christian who joined Boko Haram and became one of its prominent bomb makers. After coming out of the underground, he became an army auxiliary in Kolofata and its environs, in the far north of Cameroon. Paul’s autobiographical narratives were cross-checked with other sources, including interviews with former insurgents and hostages, and officials of the Cameroonian army and the Multinational Joint Task Force. Paul’s narrative offers insight to understand why an individual would join, make a career in, and leave a terrorist group. His life story highlights the issue of human rights in the context of counterinsurgency and the importance of psychological operations in the fight against Boko Haram.

Multi-National Joint Task Force and the Fight against Boko-Haram Insurgency: A study of Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon Republics

Multi-National Joint Task Force and the Fight against Boko-Haram Insurgency: A study of Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon Republics

Understanding the Performance, Survival and Collapse of African Ad Hoc Military Coalitions

ABSTRACT Ad hoc coalitions offer flexible responses to Africa’s security challenges. This article provides a comparative study of two such groupings: the Multinational Joint Task Force, which has endured, and the G5 Sahel Joint Force, which has collapsed. To explain these divergent outcomes, we begin by assessing and comparing the performance capabilities of these coalitions. We then review the “classic account” of their (under)performance, which focuses on the role of external support in sustaining coalitions. Finally, we use an organized hypocrisy lens to show how external funding only ensures a coalition’s sustainability if, firstly, political relations between participating countries and between them and donors align; and secondly, the decoupling between discourse and performance does not become too great.

How ad hoc coalitions deinstitutionalize international institutions

Abstract As ad hoc coalitions (AHCs) proliferate, particularly on the African continent, two questions crystallize. First, what consequences do they bring about for the existing institutional security landscape? And second, how can the trend of AHCs operating alongside instead of inside international organizations be captured and explored conceptually? To answer these questions, we closely examine the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) fighting Boko Haram and its changing relationship to the African Union. Through the case-study and a review of policy and academic literatures, the article launches the concept of deinstitutionalization and how it can be characterized. We identify three features of deinstitutionalization: AHCs can bypass standard procedures for decision-making processes, whittle down established institutional scripts and shift resource allocations. We detail how the AHCs contribute to changing practices of financing international peace and security operations, with an examination of European Union and United Nations policies and practices. In sum, the article unwraps processes of deinstitutionalization and identifies three forms of rationales for this process: lack of problem-solving capacity, limited adaptability and path dependency.

Assessing the role of the United Nations in countering terrorism in Africa: A case study of the Lake Chad Basin

ABSTRACT This study examines the United Nations’ counterterrorism efforts in the Lake Chad Basin (LCB), with a focus on the persistent challenges posed by the Boko Haram insurgency. Using a critical analysis approach, the research appraises the legal, policy, and empirical dimensions of the UN’s counterterrorism strategies. It delves into the evolution of terrorism in the LCB, the emergence of Boko Haram, and the socio-economic and geopolitical factors contributing to the issue. The study argues that the UN and the Multinational Joint Task Force’s (MNJTF) efforts in the LCB have experienced successes but face challenges like porous borders, weak governance, and complex geography. It contributes to the global terrorism discourse by highlighting the intricate challenges in implementing effective counterterrorism measures in a region with unique political, social, and environmental contexts. The study recommends a multi-pronged strategy that incorporates context-specific conditions, financial disruptions, and eco-security measures. It underscores the importance of multi-sectoral collaboration and sustained global commitment for achieving lasting peace and security in the LCB.

Multinational Joint Task Force: Lessons for Comprehensive Regional Approaches to Cross-Border Conflict in Africa

Abstract The recent proliferation of cross-border conflicts in Africa has led to the establishment of multiple Ad Hoc Security Initiatives (asi s) on the continent. However, the effectiveness of these initiatives has varied considerably. As such, there is now increased academic and policy interest in the Multinational Joint Task Force (mnjtf), which has seen substantial operational success over the course of its mandate. This paper seeks to contribute to the debate on the strengths and weaknesses of the mnjtf model and the effectiveness of the Force in the Lake Chad region through an exploration of the mnjtf from an internal perspective. The authors of this paper have both worked closely with the mnjtf in recent years and the paper is based upon interviews with current and former mnjtf personnel, staff of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (which oversees the mnjtf) as well as donor and UN partners. In exploring this internal perspective, the article undertakes an in-depth examination of the mnjtf, including the relationship between the headquarters and the sectors, and assesses the impact the mnjtf has had upon the Troop Contributing Countries (tcc s). It identifies areas where the mnjtf has become a regional hub of best practice, challenges that have compromised its effectiveness, and the impact of military diplomacy on the security of the region. Finally, it concludes by drawing lessons from this experience for other conflicts requiring a comprehensive regional and international response.

THREE POINTS FOREIGN POLICY AGENDA: AN APPRAISAL OF PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI’S FIRST TERM FOREIGN POLICY AGENDA

On assumption of office on May 29 2015, President Muhammad Buhari outlined three cardinal issues his administration will place a premium on Economic Development, the Fight against terrorism and the Fight against Corruption. These three issues have also continued to guide the administration’sforeign policy. This paper aims to appraise how the administration has performed in its first term from 2015-2019 with regard to these three cardinal foreign policy principles. Using secondary data sources from journals, books, newspapers, and government reports, the research found that President Buhari's trips across the world capital are in tandem with the administration’s foreign policy goals for the implication on national development. Considerable effort has been made towards the fight against insurgency by raising a multinational coalition to tackle the menace of terrorism, which had negatively affected Nigeria’s image on the International scene. This was made possible with collaboration with Chad, Cameroon and Niger to form Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) which played an important role in degrading Boko Haram Insurgency. As for economic development, the president's trip to China has brought about considerable infrastructural development and Foreign Direct Investment from other world capitals, which help the government in exiting the recession. The paper concludes that there is a need for the administration to follow up on agreements signed during this foreign trip to engender national development effectively.

Exploring lapses in West Africa’s security architecture and their implications for regional security

ABSTRACT The last two decades in West Africa have witnessed the emergence and persistence of diverse forms of insecurity – in particular, the recession of democracy and the rise of terrorism and transnational organised crime. This article explores the effectiveness of the region’s security architecture with a focus on the peace and security framework of the Economic Community of West African States, the Multinational Joint Task Force and the G5 Sahel, a framework formulated in response to the above threats. The article identifies and examines specific institutional lapses, including gaps in regime security, insufficient efforts to build state relations and ineffective implementation of the security policies that do exist. This article argues that these institutional lapses drive the persistence of identified insecurity in the region.

Multinational Joint Task Force’s counterinsurgency in the Lake Chad Basin and the consequences of Chadian exit for the Northeast, Nigeria

ABSTRACTThe Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), comprising soldiers from the Lake Chad Basin countries (Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Benin), has been countering insurgency in the region since 2015. Frictional relationships resulting from mutual distrust affected the commitments of MNJTF contributing countries in counterinsurgency operations in Lake Chad. Chad, notably, considered itself an arrowhead in the counterinsurgency due to the laxity of other coalition countries. The devastation its soldiers suffered and the waxing strength of the operation of Boko Haram and allied groups in the region motivated the late Chadian President Idriss Déby to declare in December 2019 the exiting of his soldiers from the MNJTF to concentrate on protecting the borders of the country. The study relied on extant literature and explorative qualitative techniques to investigate the consequences of such exit on northeast Nigeria. At the very least, it reveals that Chad’s exit betrayed the MNJTF counterinsurgency coalition and has negative consequences for the security complexity in northeast Nigeria.

Generation three and a half peacekeeping: Understanding the evolutionary character of African-led Peace Support Operations

ABSTRACT African-led Peace Support Operations (PSOs) were established to support the African peace and security architecture by developing integrated capacities for deployment in crises. However, since the deployment of the first African-led PSOs, there has also been the emergence of new types of African-led PSOs, such as the African Union Mission in Somalia; the Lake Chad Basin Commission Multinational Joint Task Force; the Joint Force for the Group of Five for the Sahel; the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique; and the East African Community Force in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The paper examines why African-led PSOs have emerged, arguing that these operations have allowed for increased African agency and shaped the African peace and security space. The paper finds that African-led PSO reflects a more regional and local-specific response in a declining era of new United Nations peacekeeping operations but has also resulted in an overreliance on force to solve the continent’s peace and security issues. Consequently, the paper arrives at a novel conceptualisation of African-led PSOs, positing that they represent generation three and a half of peacekeeping which focus on the effectiveness of force and the morality of using force to deal with insecurity and multifaceted crisis.

Challenges of Diplomacy in Securing External Defense Arrangement in Nigeria (2007-2022)

Nigeria defense strategy has since combined soft and hard diplomacy to negotiate, persuade and induce both global and regional allies to support her counter terrorism fight. This study examined challenges of diplomacy in securing external defense arrangement in Nigeria between 2007 and 2022. The study adopted mixed research design using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study relied heavily on secondary sources such as books, journals, articles, periodical, government reports and publications, magazines, unpublished manuscript, and conference papers; also, on primary sources such as interviews and questionnaires. It was found out that a lot still need to be done to improve the strategies and methods of securing diplomatic arrangements in a way that will favor Nigeria in dealing with the challenges encountered in diplomatic defense relations to combat the effect of terrorism both locally and regionally. The study recommended that Nigeria must intensify efforts at holding regional security summits for defense diplomats while intensifying joint military exercises for regional states in the Multi-national Joint Task Force to promote unity, improve communication and information sharing; and that the state must improve defense budgeting while joining multiple counter terrorism coalition both regionally and globally.

Challenges of Diplomacy in Securing External Defense Arrangement in Nigeria (2007-2022)

Nigeria defense strategy has since combined soft and hard diplomacy to negotiate, persuade and induce both global and regional allies to support her counter terrorism fight. This study examined challenges of diplomacy in securing external defense arrangement in Nigeria between 2007 and 2022. The study adopted mixed research design using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study relied heavily on secondary sources such as books, journals, articles, periodical, government reports and publications, magazines, unpublished manuscript, and conference papers; also, on primary sources such as interviews and questionnaires. It was found out that a lot still need to be done to improve the strategies and methods of securing diplomatic arrangements in a way that will favor Nigeria in dealing with the challenges encountered in diplomatic defense relations to combat the effect of terrorism both locally and regionally. The study recommended that Nigeria must intensify efforts at holding regional security summits for defense diplomats while intensifying joint military exercises for regional states in the Multi-national Joint Task Force to promote unity, improve communication and information sharing; and that the state must improve defense budgeting while joining multiple counter terrorism coalition both regionally and globally.

Institutional counterinsurgency frameworks in the Lake Chad Basin: the case of the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram

ABSTRACT The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) is engaged in active combat operations against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin, but the latter remains very resilient and continues to launch lethal attacks. Yet, scholarship has failed to examine the institutional circumstances that account for the lack of success by the MNJTF. This article explores the influence of the counterinsurgency frameworks of the Organization of African Unity (OAU)/African Union (AU), Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) on the operations of the MNJTF. It takes a critical look at how the MNJTF’s states’ affiliation to separate sub-regional blocs influences military and intelligence cooperation among them. The article argues that the AU, ECOWAS, and ECCAS institutional counterinsurgency frameworks severely limit military and intelligence collaboration among its member nations, therefore impeding the MNJTF’s operations.

Ad-hoc Security Initiatives, an African response to insecurity

ABSTRACT This article contends that Ad-hoc Security Initiatives (ASI) have developed over the last decade in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin and represents a new form of African collective security mechanism. The G5 Sahel Force and the Multi-National Joint Task Force emerged from a context-specific need for small clusters of African states to respond collectively to a shared cross-border security threat(s). The existing African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) mechanisms were not specific and responsive enough to meet this emerging need. Despite substantial investments over the last twenty years by the African Union, Regional Economic Community/ Regional Mechanisms and international partners to establish the African Standby Force, this instrument was not agile enough to respond to the type of threats experienced in the greater Sahel region. In this article, we trace the emergence of a new type of ASI, examine how they fill an essential gap and analyse why the African Standby Force was not able to meet this need. We then consider the implications of these developments for the future of the APSA and how closer collaboration between ASIs and APSA can be developed.

Regional Cooperation in West Africa: Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Insurgency

ABSTRACT The challenges of terrorism and insurgency have continued to attract regional response. A significant aspect of such response is the demonstration of shared responsibilities by various nation states in regional cooperation to stamp out the menace of terrorism. The EU member states for instance adopted a regional approach to counter transnational security threats by embracing common standards and unified approach to Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Insurgency (CT-COIN). Likewise in West Africa, the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) was recently reinvigorated to deal decisively with the cross-border terrorism in the Lake Chad Basin. This is in addition to other regional architecture that constitutes the needed ingredients of regional cooperation in West Africa. The operations and activities of these regional outfits have been destabilized by several challenges due to the peculiarities of security cooperation at a regional scale. Against this background, this article examines regional cooperation within the context of CT-COIN in West Africa with a view to establishing the challenges of such collaboration. The article unbundles the dynamics of terrorism and insurgency in West Africa. It engages the regional architecture for CT-COIN in the region and it underscores the challenges of regional cooperation. The article offers some measures for improving regional cooperation for an improved CT-COIN in West Africa.

Explaining the resilience of Boko Haram’s insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin

ABSTRACT Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari continues to insist that Boko Haram has been been ‘technically defeated’, claiming that peace has returned to the Lake Chad Basin. However, reports from the media and people living in affected areas indicate otherwise. Based on analysis of secondary sources and a review of the literature, this article explores how Boko Haram has managed to survive the overwhelming military pressure of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) arrayed against it. Resilience theory informs the analysis. The study’s findings suggest a direct link between Boko Haram’s resilience and its organisational structure, civilian sympathisers, resource flows and intelligence gathering, on the one hand, and corruption and sabotage within the Nigerian military on the other. In addition, Boko Haram benefits from its links with international terrorist networks. The article argues that understanding these factors, and adjusting the counterinsurgency accordingly, is critical to bringing an end to the Boko Haram insurgency.

Interorganizational Cooperation and the Fight against Terrorism in West Africa and the Sahel

The transnational nature of security threats in the 21st Century are such that interorganizational cooperation is necessary to effectively combat these threats. This article explores a key organization, the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), charged with curtailing the threat posed by terrorism in certain parts of the Sahel and West Africa. Using the theoretical framework of Walt’s balance of threat and a combination of data obtained from ACLED and expert interviews, the article argues that the MNJTF has not been successful in achieving its mandate. This could be attributed to five lapses in the restructuring of the organization in 2015 to combat terrorism. The article concludes that for interorganizational security cooperation to be successful, the allies must equally acknowledge that they face the same existential threats which will make them commit to the demands of the organisation.

Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and the Surge in Female Abductions in Southeastern Niger

This paper uses a gendered analysis, alongside original data,1 to explore an increase in abductions of Muslim women and girls in southeastern Niger between March 2019 and the end of April 2020, and what this indicates about jihadist factional dynamics. These abductions occurred in operational areas historically associated with Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which is loyal to Islamic State. Yet, ISWAP condemns its rival faction, Abubakar Shekau-led Boko Haram (Jamaat Ahlus Sunnah Li-Dawa wal-Jihad), for that faction’s abduction and self-described enslavement of Muslim women. As such the abductions are an anomaly. The piece, therefore, considers three alternative possible reasons for the surge of abductions in southeastern Niger during this period. These are: the rise of a new Abubakar Shekau-loyal Boko Haram sub-faction operating in ISWAP’s historical areas of operations in southeastern Niger and around Lake Chad, led by the jihadist commander Bakura; leadership changes in ISWAP beginning in March 2019 that resulted in an ideological shift toward more ‘Shekau-like’ operations; and command-and-control issues, with ISWAP members engaging in abductions without leadership sanction. The paper argues that the new data, alongside a gender analysis of the ideological positions of the jihadist groups in the Lake Chad Basin Area, suggests the emergence of the new Bakura sub-faction contributed most to the increase in abductions of Muslim in southeastern Niger. The finding has implications for understanding the jihadist actors in the region, studying how gender functions in factionalisation, and developing a gendered policy to counter Boko Haram and a counter-terrorism strategy for member-states of the Lake Chad-based Multinational Joint Task Force

Militia Counterinsurgency: Perspective on the Motivations of Civilian Joint Task Force Militia Participation in Northern Nigeria

Since the year 2013, Nigeria’s northeastern region epicenter of the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency waging war for the establishment of an Islamic State has witnessed mass participation of people in a civil militia group. The militia group colloquially describing itself Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) was formed to combat the Boko Haram rebellion. Perhaps, the participation of the CJTF in the combating activities was reportedly influential in reducing the Boko Haram hostilities in most communities. Prior to the CJTF, the counterinsurgency approaches of the Nigerian governments’ Special Joint Task Force and the Multinational Joint Task Force of the Member States of Lake Chad Basin Commission was faced with lackadaisical performances. Whereas the CJTF was reportedly successful, however, the interrupted participation of the people despite the attendant human and material cost has risen suspicion among the population and the critical literature about the groups’ true motivation. This article, therefore, investigated the motivations of the CJTF in northeastern Nigeria. The study was conducted through a qualitative approach designed in a case study. The data was collected from thirteen informants from three groups - CJTF, Community Leaders and State/Local Government authorities. The technique of data collection is in-depth interviews and non-participant observation. The finding revealed personal incentive factors of monetary/material gains, and the futuristic interest of employability drives peoples’ participation. To address the economic interests of the CJTF and as a panacea to prevent the manifestation of the security threats associated with the CJTF group, the study recommends for the establishment of charity centers to receive contributions from well to do citizens to ameliorate the economic needs of the participants. The government should also propound strong legal mechanisms to regulate the activities of the CJTF militia.

Multinational Joint Task Force’s Fight against Insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin Region

Describing north east Nigeria without making mention of insurgency would be incomplete, as the resurgence of insurgent groups particularly Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād commonly refered to as Boko Haram have wreaked havoc in the region for close to 12 years. In response to the activities of insurgent groups, the African Union Peace and Security Council and the authority of the Lake Chad Basin Commission moved to expand the mandate of the MNJJT to include counter insurgency. The task force is made up of orcesrom Cameroon, Chad,Niger Nigeria and Benin republic. The task force have been able to make considerable gains against insurgency, however, insurgency still remains a major challenge in the region, which makes necessary an appraisal of the task force in justifying the purpose of its creation. The study reveals major challenges like inadequate technical knowhow, inadequate funding amongst others threatens the operations of the MNJTF. The paper recommends that military response is solely incapable of addressing insurgency, member States need to re-examine counter insurgency policies to be multidimensional.